Abbey loves boxes. If one is opened, she runs in and looks up eagerly. They usually are awarded to her. [Aug. 22, 2016]Abbey is unlike any dog we’ve ever had. She’s a mix, for one – half Labrador retriever, half golden retriever. You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but her parents’ colors are fox and black.

She also has personality quirks that are new to us on this fourth dog we’ve had. None of our other dogs, for example, showed any inclination to lie on the arms or backs of furniture. And while they liked food and food containers and food wrappers, cardboard boxes were of no interest unless they, well, smelled like food.

Not this one. Sure, that box she has in the top photo might smell ever so slightly of the rice and spices that were wrapped in plastic within. But she is equally happy to bound off with a Kleenex box.

And it’s infectious, apparently. Maggie never showed any interest in boxes until Abbey had to have them. Curious, she started investigating, and now they fight over them.

Daryl? Well, as a friend of mine once noted, you could put a postage stamp in the middle of a sports stadium and a cat would find it and sit on it. Box = cardboard = paper = approved.

No, we haven’t just returned from camping. In my house, it’s hunting season (archery deer), and too cool to have the windows open all the time but not quite time to put the yard to bed for winter.

I still wanted to share these dog photos from summer camping, though:

I like this photo because you can see the path Abbey takes in the water. This is Grousehaven Lake at the Rifle River State Recreation Area near Lupton, Michigan, our favorite place to camp. [Aug. 5, 2016]

Dogs don’t get much happier than this. [Aug. 5, 2016]

Abbey and Maggie swam separately (it’s what the handlers could handle) but relaxed together afterward. As we say, “A wet Lab is a happy Lab.” [Aug. 5, 2016]

In the period before I took the sleeping bags to the dry cleaner, Maggie made good use of them.

One day I came home and on the sidewalk leading up to the porch was a giant stuffed dog. My son had found and salvaged it. My daughter claims to want it, but has yet to take it to her apartment, so in the meantime it is a living room fixture.

Maggie, unfazed. [April 25]Abbey, looking like a snack. [May 10]Abbey the goat in one of her common chilling spots, the back of the loveseat … with company! [April 20]The (stuffed) dog was on the floor. I was on the floor, stretching my back, which meant Abbey had to join me. Then she noticed a pillow … [May 1]

We have a cat and dog who don’t fight like cats and dogs. The half Lab, half golden retriever (our “little” dog) was nearly 1 when we introduced her for the first time to a cat, a rescue who is exactly 2 weeks older than her. They scrap but they are sparring partners, each as likely to instigate.

Despite Daryl’s slight look of suspicion, he and Abbey are just hanging out. This also is a good illustration of their size difference, which isn’t always clear, her at 54 pounds to his 11. [May 14]See? Buds. [April 19]